A distraught Homa Bay Town mother mourns a Yale University star who could transform the family's fortunes, and possibly that of the community.
The death echoes the murders of Kianjokoma brothers Ben Njiru and Emmanuel Mutura in Embu county. The brothers were murdered, early this month, on their first day out on a promising business. The police owe the public clarity on these deaths.
The young man from Homa Bay Town, Edgar Tony Odongo, may have died in an accident, may have been killed or murdered in a way that disguises the crime as an accident. The leads point to a possible foul play but the grieving mother is not keen on police investigation. The son is dead and buried. The mother's pessimism blurs the deterrence value of justice.
People are jailed or fined not solely because they have committed crimes. Justice deters recurrence of crimes.
There are two versions of the circumstance of Tony's death: One is from single-source bloggers and another is information the family received from a Good Samaritan.
Tony is reported to have left his mother's house in Homa Bay Town on August 10 at 8pm for a neighbourhood stroll. A few minutes to 10pm, Tony's younger brother called to remind him of the curfew. The victim promised he would be home soon. He did not return.
Further calls to his number, like those to his neighbourhood friend, weren't answered hours into the curfew. The family hoped the boys would return the calls, or come back to their houses.
Tony was reportedly found lying by the roadside along the Homa Bay-Mbita Road at 3am. He was bleeding from a cut on the head. His shirt was torn at the back. There were scratches, blood, and dirt that showed the man might have been dragged along a tarred road.
Tony may have dropped from, jumped out, or pushed out of a moving vehicle. The only vehicles on that road, and in that direction, at that time of the night, are PSVs of the Probox type.
Tony's rescuer at Ogongo market, 40km from Homa Bay Town, knew him. How he got there is not clear.
The rescuer was among vigil keepers on the eve of the burial of Senator Moses Kajwang's father, David Ajwang'. He told the victim's mother that her son was at the Homa Bay Teaching and Referral Hospital.
Tony walked from the hospital car park, into the hospital, talking. He was sedated, reportedly because he was talking too much. The patient was later transferred to a Kisumu hospital for specialised care. The account gets blurred beyond this. Tony died.
Bloggers account is disgusting: They reported some villagers hacked him to death, and then dumped the body on the wayside. Tony Edgar is a triple star. The hope of his family rested on his youthful shoulders. The ultimate drama of Tony's life started at 8pm on August 10, ending in a foul death.
Tony, a 2019 graduate of Yale University, was buried last Friday, without clarity on the circumstances of his death. He was the top student in the 2012 Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education Examination. The alumnus of the Maseno School was also the top candidate in the 2008 Kenya Certificate of Primary Education at St Peter's Capeview Academy in Homa Bay. The 'A' student was a beneficiary of Equity Bank's Wings to Fly scholarship. His enrollment at Yale University, on full scholarship, to study electrical engineering, was a flow from his star-studded past.
Tony Edgar graduated summa cum laude from Yale's Dwight College, in New Haven, Connecticut, US. Such is the man a Spartan village in Rongo, Migori county, buried last week.
Homa Bay county police should investigate Tony Edgar's case.
